Shloka 13
समुद्रमिव पर्यस्तं त्वदीयं तं बलार्णवम् | दधारैको<<र्जुनिर्बाणैवेलेव भरतर्षभ
samudram iva paryastaṁ tvadīyaṁ taṁ balārṇavam | dadhāra eko 'rjunir bāṇair velā iva bharatarṣabha ||
Sañjaya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, your vast ocean-like host, though surging and spread out like the sea, was held back by Arjuna alone—checked by his arrows, just as the shoreline restrains the ocean.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the ocean-and-shore metaphor to highlight that even an overwhelming force can be ethically and strategically checked by disciplined skill and steadfast resolve; power without right direction meets limits, while focused effort can establish a boundary against chaos.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava host, vast like an ocean, was nonetheless held back by Arjuna alone, whose arrows functioned like a shoreline that prevents the sea from overrunning the land.